AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Jackson:Oh, Charlotte. You've made my night.
Me:Well, let's hope you make mine too.
Jackson:You don't need to hope when it's a sure thing.
Me:So, do we decide a day, time, anything?
Jackson:No.
His no feels very final. And he must feel the same because neither of us texts again. All that needs to be said has been. I don't go back to sleep;can't, really. Not when every detail of our texts keeps replaying in my mind, leaving questions in their wake. So when will it happen? Will I really know it's him? I could easily imagine a scenario where I'm so afraid that my sense of smell fails me, giving me no clue that it's Jackson and not some creepy psycho.
A week later, with not a single sign that anything will happen, I'm a ball of nervous excitement. I've found myself looking overmy shoulder constantly, hoping I'll see Jackson watching me, waiting. I'm checking my rearview mirror whenever I'm at a red light, wanting to find Jackson behind me, following me until he can get me in some dark alley. Hell, I've had a coworker ask if I was having trouble with an ex-boyfriend because she'd noticed how jumpy I've been. And still, no Jackson.
"Are you even listening?"
I blink, focusing on Lexa before saying, "Sorry. I was lost for a moment."
"You mean for about five minutes," she corrects me. "You didn't even notice Soph getting up to use the bathroom."
I chuckle. "I mean, she does need to pee every fifteen minutes now, so it's to be expected."
"True. But you also missed the waitress putting your dinner down just now."
I look down, seeing a plate of chicken alfredo on the table. I was much more distracted than I realized.
"What are you over there thinking about anyway?" she asks. But her smirk gives away what her next words will be. "Or should I say who? Maybe… Jackson?"
I give her an exasperated look. "You're one to talk. You think nobody notices the way Jeremiah and Ezekiel watch you like you're their goddess."
"Oh, please. They watch my body. It has nothing to do with me."
"Hmm, I beg to differ. And if you ever stop trading barbs with them, you might just start to see that too."
"With who? Jeremiah or Ezekiel?"
"Huh?"
"Who should I stop trading barbs with? Which brother?"
"Why not both?"
"And that's the issue right there. I don't want any man, let alone two."
I smirk. "That's not what you said at the party."
She glares at me. "Yeah, and Jeremiah and Ezekiel do not let me forget it. How the hell was I supposed to know they like sharing women and would take me saying I wanted to fuck two men as an invitation?"
"Oh my God," a woman gasps from the table next to us.
I look over and see her hand coming to her neck, as if she's clutching invisible pearls.
"You know it sounds hot." Lexa laughs, and the woman turns away as Lexa continues, "But the issue is that fantasies are fantasies for a reason. To give you something to wish for, not to actually follow through with. Because then, the fantasy turns out not to be what you thought it would."
I swallow at her words. She can't possibly know how much doubt she just placed in me. And I'm able to hide it with a fake smile when Sophie comes back to the table.
"Oh, thank God, the freaking food came." She huffs when she practically falls into her seat. "I thought I'd have to chew someone's arm off."
"I didn't know pregnancy turned women into cannibals," I tease.
